Privacy Policy

The Bridal Journal ("TBJ," "we," "us," or "our") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your personal information when you visit our website (thebridaljournal.com), create a bride or vendor account, subscribe to our newsletter, or interact with any of our services. We comply fully with Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and the Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL).
By using The Bridal Journal, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please discontinue use of our services. We suggest you review this policy periodically. If we make material changes we will notify you by email or by a prominent notice on our website. Your continued use of The Bridal Journal after changes have been posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

1. Information We Collect
Bride Accounts
When you create a bride account we collect your full name and email address, your city or region to personalise vendor recommendations and events, your wedding date or approximate season, your password which is stored encrypted and never visible to us, your saved vendors, saved articles, and quiz results, and your push notification preferences which are opt in only.
Vendor Accounts
When you create a vendor account we collect your business name, category, city, and contact details, your membership tier and billing information which is processed securely via Stripe and Join It, your profile photos, portfolio images, and business description, and any push notification submissions and promo codes you create.
Automatically Collected Data
We automatically collect your IP address, browser type, device type, and operating system, the pages you visit, time spent, and links clicked, the referring website or search term that brought you to our site, and cookies and similar tracking technologies as described in Section 6.
Newsletter and Event Sign Ups
When you sign up for our newsletter or register at a TBJ event we collect your name and email address, your city and wedding date to personalise content, and your explicit consent confirming agreement to receive communications in compliance with CASL.

2. How We Use Your Information
We use your personal information to create and manage your bride or vendor account, to personalise your experience by showing vendors, articles, and events relevant to your city and wedding date, to send our weekly newsletter with your explicit consent under CASL, to send push notifications about vendor deals and events near you with your explicit opt in only, to process vendor membership payments securely via Stripe and Join It, to activate and manage vendor membership features including the star badge, push notification permissions, and promo codes based on membership tier, to improve our website, content, and services through analytics, to respond to enquiries, support requests, and dilemma submissions, and to detect and prevent fraud or misuse of our platform.

3. Push Notifications
The Bridal Journal offers an optional push notification service that delivers vendor deals, event alerts, and TBJ Approved promo codes directly to your phone. This service operates under the following rules.
Push notifications are strictly opt in. You must explicitly agree to receive them during account sign up or via your account settings. Notifications are city targeted and you will only receive deals and events relevant to the city you registered with. Every push notification sent by a vendor must be reviewed and approved by The Bridal Journal Editor in Chief before it is sent. No vendor can push notifications directly to brides without our approval. We limit notifications to protect your experience and brides will not receive more than one push notification per day. You can opt out of push notifications at any time via your account settings or your device notification settings.

4. Information Sharing and Disclosure
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We may share your information only in the following limited circumstances.
We use trusted third party service providers including Stripe for payment processing, Join It for membership management, and OneSignal or Firebase for push notifications. These providers access your data only as necessary to deliver their service and are bound by data protection agreements. We may disclose your information where required by Canadian law, court order, or to protect the rights and safety of The Bridal Journal or others. In the event of a sale or merger of The Bridal Journal we will notify you before your personal information is transferred and becomes subject to a new privacy policy. We may share non identifiable aggregated statistics such as total bride sign ups by city or overall notification open rates with vendors and partners for marketing purposes. This data cannot be used to identify you.
Bride profiles and personal details are never shared with vendors. Vendors can see aggregate reach numbers such as the number of opted in brides in their city but never individual bride names, emails, or personal details.

5. Email Communications and CASL Compliance
In compliance with Canada's Anti Spam Legislation we only send commercial electronic messages including newsletters and promotional emails with your express or implied consent. Express consent is provided when you tick the consent checkbox when signing up for our newsletter or creating an account. Implied consent exists through a business relationship such as a vendor purchasing a membership which creates implied consent for transactional communications. Every email we send includes an unsubscribe link and you can opt out at any time. We will not send marketing emails on behalf of third parties without your separate consent. We do not share your email address with vendors or any third party.

6. Cookies
We use cookies and similar technologies to enhance your experience on The Bridal Journal. Essential cookies are required for the website to function and include keeping you logged in and remembering your city preference. Analytics cookies help us understand how visitors use the site so we can improve it. We use tools such as Google Analytics. Marketing cookies are used to deliver relevant content and measure the effectiveness of our communications.
You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings. Note that disabling cookies may affect certain features of the site.

7. Data Security
We take reasonable and appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information from unauthorised access, loss, disclosure, or misuse. Passwords are encrypted and we never store or view your password in plain text. Payment processing is handled securely via Stripe and we never store credit card numbers on our servers. Access controls ensure only authorised TBJ team members can access personal data. We conduct regular security reviews of our systems and third party integrations.
While we strive to protect your information, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security. If you have any questions about security on our website you can contact us at privacy@thebridaljournal.com.

8. Your Rights Under PIPEDA
Under Canada's PIPEDA you have the right to access the personal information we hold about you, to request corrections to inaccurate or incomplete information, to withdraw consent for the collection or use of your information subject to legal or contractual obligations, to request deletion of your account and associated personal data, and to ask how your information is being used and with whom it has been shared.
To exercise any of these rights please contact us at privacy@thebridaljournal.com.

9. User Submitted Content
When you submit content to The Bridal Journal including real wedding photos, dilemma submissions, comments, or any other material, that content may be visible to other users of the platform. By submitting content you grant The Bridal Journal a non exclusive licence to display, share, and use that content in connection with our services and editorial features.
You are responsible for any personal information you choose to include in submitted content. Please do not include sensitive personal details in public submissions. Even after content is removed from our platform, cached or archived copies may remain visible, or other users may have saved or shared your content prior to removal.

10. Account Security and Responsibility
You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account password and for all activity that occurs under your account. Please notify us immediately at privacy@thebridaljournal.com if you become aware of any unauthorised access to your account or any security breach. The Bridal Journal will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to protect your account credentials.

11. Third Party Advertising and Sponsored Content
The Bridal Journal features paid vendor placements and sponsored editorial content. Third party vendors who advertise on our platform may use their own cookies, tracking pixels, or similar technologies to measure the performance of their advertisements. The Bridal Journal does not control these third party tracking technologies and is not responsible for their data practices.
Sponsored content on The Bridal Journal is always clearly labelled. Third party advertisers do not have access to your personal information unless you choose to contact them directly. This Privacy Policy applies solely to data collected by The Bridal Journal and does not govern the practices of any advertiser or external website.

12. External Links
Our website may contain links to external websites including vendor websites, social media platforms, and event pages. Once you leave The Bridal Journal this Privacy Policy no longer applies. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any external sites you visit.

13. Children's Privacy
The Bridal Journal is not intended for use by anyone under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from minors. If you believe a minor has provided us with personal information please contact us immediately and we will delete it.

14. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, services, or legal requirements. When we make significant changes we will notify you by email or by posting a prominent notice on our website. The updated policy will include a new effective date at the top of this page. Your continued use of The Bridal Journal after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.

15. Contact Us
If you have any questions, concerns, or requests relating to this Privacy Policy or your personal data please contact our Privacy Officer.
Website: www.bridaljournal.ca Canada
All policies on The Bridal Journal are governed by the laws of Canada. Your data is collected, stored, and processed in Canada.